Friday, October 08, 2010

The AL is off today. Heartbreaker of a game for Reds fans in Philly tonight. The Reds seemed like they were heading for a blowout. 4-0 in the 5th, and Oswalt struggling. Alas, they ended up losing 7-4. They gave away the game, with four errors and three hit batsmen. Only two Phillies runs were earned. Now they go back to Cincinnati to play a do-or-die game on Sunday.

Paul Janish came into the game unexpectedly. Orlando Cabrera aggravated his strained oblique turning a double play in the 4th, and left the game. Janish pinch hit for him in the 5th, laying down a nice sac bunt that helped get the Reds' last run on the board. He made a couple of very nice plays on defense, too.

John Fay thinks the Reds may replace Cabrera with Chris Valaika. I believe that's a relatively new rule - letting a team replace an injured player mid-series. But if they do replace Cabrera, he cannot come back in the current series, or the next one. Janish becomes their starting SS, for the rest of this series, and the next one, should they make it.

Given that, I wonder if the Reds might not hold off in replacing Cabrera. They have a history of doing that kind of thing.